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Evaluating Coach Dambrot


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16 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Yeah, probably.  But he was completely dominant in high school.  Just not explosive and conditioning was an issue even back then.  And Xavier offered him.  So we beat out Xavier for his services & I thought that was a big deal for Akron.  We don't do that too often.  I was thrilled when we signed him.

So you're saying he improved, huh?

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Zeke, Big Dog, and Gladden seemed to have been the biggest gets for Dambrot since I've been a fan. 2 of 3 have turned out pretty well. Really the only guys that don't need development are the 5 star one and dones.

Edited by LZIp
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31 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Yeah, probably.  But he was completely dominant in high school.  Just not explosive and conditioning was an issue even back then.  And Xavier offered him.  So we beat out Xavier for his services & I thought that was a big deal for Akron.  We don't do that too often.  I was thrilled when we signed him.

 

Pretty much all D1 athletes dominate in high school. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that Xavier was the only 'big name' school that was recruiting him and they quit recruiting him after he suffered a leg injury that led him to add on more weight. Pretty sure when it was all said and done at the time of selection Akron was his best offer.

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11 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Pretty much all D1 athletes dominate in high school. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that Xavier was the only 'big name' school that was recruiting him and they quit recruiting him after he suffered a leg injury that led him to add on more weight. Pretty sure when it was all said and done at the time of selection Akron was his best offer.

 

Now that you mention it, I remember hearing that too.  I can't remember where.  But if it was true I don't know when it would have happened, because I remember him playing his entire senior year up until the state semi-finals.  I remember listening to that game on the radio & being disappointed they lost because I wouldn't be able to watch him play in the finals on t.v.  Maybe he hurt his leg before his sr. year?  I do remember he played football up until, IIRC, his junior year & was getting looked at as an OT.  I can't remember.  Man, time flies.

Edited by Blue & Gold
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12 hours ago, skip-zip said:

 

And forget about Zeke for a moment.  Keith has produced and developed 2 MAC Players Of The Year.  And in my opinion, neither Romeo or Isaiah were anywhere close to being seen as potentially reaching that level of player when they arrived here.  

 

And no one will mention that any of these guys would have been POY if it weren't for KD's system.  It favors Big Men.  Everything is inside out with his sets.  If we are at the top of the MAC, our Big Man will be the one that gets POY.  Travis, Wood, Zeke, Big Dog... none would have had the recognition they had if it wasn't for KD. End of Story.  With that said, they were great finds for his system.  

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14 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

This has been a concern and disappointment for me.  Especially considering KD's history and ongoing relationship with the school & head coach, Dru Joyce II.  Over the past 3 years we've struck out on 3 players who are difference makers:

Jalen Hudson - signed with Virginia Tech.

Henry Badley - signed with Butler.

Jayvon Graves - signed with Buffalo.

 

There is no acceptable reason to lose out on Graves to Buffalo.  None.  We have to look in the mirror and deeply re-evaluate things if we're losing a STVM kid to the Bulls.  Jalen Hudson to VT & Henry Badley to Butler are much easier to rationalize... but those are precisely the kinds of players we have to sign to take the next step.  We didn't lose out on them to Duke, Kansas or even Ohio State.  And there they were on a silver platter at STVM.

 

FYI, Graves was going to Toledo. Ended up going to Buffalo. Akron was in the top 5 from what I hear.  

 

Also heard that Badley didn't want to stay around Akron.  Don't know the reason, he just wanted to go away. 

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33 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Pretty much all D1 athletes dominate in high school. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that Xavier was the only 'big name' school that was recruiting him and they quit recruiting him after he suffered a leg injury that led him to add on more weight. Pretty sure when it was all said and done at the time of selection Akron was his best offer.

 

You are right on...

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26 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

Now that you mention it, I remember hearing that too.  I can't remember where.  But if it was true I don't know when it would have happened, because I remember him playing his entire senior year up until the state semi-finals.  I remember listening to that game on the radio & being disappointed they lost because I wouldn't be able to watch him play in the finals on t.v.  Maybe he hurt his leg before his sr. year?  I do remember he played football up until, IIRC, his junior year & was getting looked at as an OT.  I can't remember.  Man, time flies.

It was his junior season.

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I always saw Hipsher as an average head coach. The program was better with him than it was with Crawford so I wouldn't necessarily lump those two guys together. To reference it in football terms I saw Crawford as Ianello-ish (although no one is truly as bad as RI) while Hipsher was more of a Lee Owens. Hopefully terry Bowden's program can get to the level of KD's at some point.

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4 minutes ago, GJGood said:

I always saw Hipsher as an average head coach. The program was better with him than it was with Crawford so I wouldn't necessarily lump those two guys together. To reference it in football terms I saw Crawford as Ianello-ish (although no one is truly as bad as RI) while Hipsher was more of a Lee Owens. Hopefully terry Bowden's program can get to the level of KD's at some point.

That's a lot of apples and oranges. 

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4 minutes ago, GJGood said:

I always saw Hipsher as an average head coach. The program was better with him than it was with Crawford so I wouldn't necessarily lump those two guys together. To reference it in football terms I saw Crawford as Ianello-ish (although no one is truly as bad as RI) while Hipsher was more of a Lee Owens. Hopefully terry Bowden's program can get to the level of KD's at some point.

Agreed. Hipsher walked into a situation every bit as bad as Bowden, post-Ianello.

 

Hipsher's first Zips team had ONE returning player - Jarvis Catron. The rest of the roster, 13 kids, were true Freshman?! 

 

Jimmal Ball was one of the top 3 athletes ever to hoop for the Zips. Jamie Bosley was one of the top pure scorers in Zips history. He had some talent.

 

He also coached in an era when MAC hoops was at a higher level than it is today. 

 

That said, his anger issues wore his teams down. And his recruiting talent level eroded...so he ran his course, and was fired.

 

Hipsher took us from the bowels of hell to mediocrity, with some fun moments in-between. Time will soon tell if that completely mirrors Bowden's tenure. 

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He's got a tough road ahead of him. The A-10 is a very good basketball league and Duquesne finished dead last last year and their last appearance in the NCAA tournament was 1977. Disappointed to see him go but wish him well and hope he just didn't make a disappearing career move.  

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16 minutes ago, gozips19 said:

Im glad Bill referenced the Romeo Dru teams.... I remember the quote when asked about his scheduling then... KD responded by saying that group had done too much for the program to be sent out on the road 

Edited by morris buttermaker
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